(post #176293, reply #2 of 30)

Do NOT go with aggregate. I know it's cheaper, but it will hurt bare feet. Stamped concrete is slippery than greased owl $hit, and flagstone costs an arm and a leg. We went with flagstone, and once I recovered from paying for it, I've been very happy with it. Had stamped concrete at our previous home...it was beautiful, but I got soooo tired of everyone falling down when they tried to walk with their feet wet, and we had aggregate around another pool...yech. In other words, I don't think there's any perfect choice!

Things are going to get a lot worse before they get worse.Lily Tomlin

Not One More Day! Not One More Dime! Not One More Life! Not One More Lie!

(post #176293, reply #4 of 30)

We put in a pool this summer and we used concrete pavers around it and I am really happy with both the look and feel of it. Heres a pic of the finished deck around the pool, looking through the safety fence. (we have a real fence in place now) -M

(post #176293, reply #6 of 30)

Gotta tell ya....the man made rock is looking good for landscaping and cheaper too. Nevermind I have a lot full of rocks here where I live since they would not work in contact with water. The material they use to make the rocks are the same they use for decking to create a stone look, or pavers like Mark posted.

Didn't make it to the Pool Places, too busy moving other family members into new homes.

(post #176293, reply #8 of 30)

Material between pavers is masons sand. I used a product called paver sand sealer. You spray it on so that it puddles up inbetween the pavers and penetrates deep into the sand. It then hardens the sand into an almost cement like state so that you don't get any sand flaking off. We will see about its longevity but for now it is working great.

I thought you would like the fence... I'll have to take a pic of the finsihed product one of these days...

(post #176293, reply #17 of 30)

Being in the Northeast where freezing temps are a major part of any design the way we do paver installations is to level out the area, then fill with stone dust (crushed stone screened down to a very fine size) then compact the entire area, fill in any low spots, put another thin layer of stone dust then lay the pavers right into that. When all pavers have been laid I then went through and compacted the entire area again. The next step is to top dress the whole patio with sand or stone dust which fills in the voids between the pavers and locks everything together. The last step I did was to seal the whole thing with a sand/paver sealer that makes the sand hard like concrete so that you don't get any movement of the pavers and so the sand stays in place. This is the first time I have used the sealer so we will see how it works out. I am very happy with the results but time will be the real judge on how well the installation was done...

(post #176293, reply #22 of 30)

Thanks for the explanation. It doesn't matter what part of the country we live in, we all want the same result. No movement. I have absolutely no experience with building in areas with freezing temps so I find your explanation very educational. We have horrible gumbo soil so a similar pool deck here would likely start with a rebar reinforced slab.

(post #176293, reply #9 of 30)

The plants, or at least what is left of them after the voles had there feast, are all in the ground on the hill behind the pool. Heres a couple of Pics showing the wall that I built with the garden behind it.

(post #176293, reply #12 of 30)

I cheated, I used sod. Wanted that instant lawn effect. Was really getting tired of mud...

Well I am not sure how it would hold up to power washing but I don't really think there would be a need as the pavers themselves also got sealed during the process so they should not need to washed, I would think. Time will tell of course on this.

(post #176293, reply #19 of 30)

The pool is a typical vinyl liner pool. Heres the abbreviated version of the pool installation.They come in dig the hole where the pool is going, then they put up 42" tall walls that form the shape of the pool. The walls are made by the pool manufacturer and come delivered as 6 and 9 foot panels depending on if they are curved or straight. In the construction pics you can easily see the walls in place. Once the walls are in they then dig out the remainder of the pool and roughly shape the bottom. Once that is complete they then cover the entire bottom with a vermiculite/cement combination and that is what forms the bottom of the pool. Once the cement has hardened a liner is then installed over the cement and up the sides of the walls and that is what makes it water tight. The steps are part of the wall system.This is very typical of how pools are done around here, not sure if that is common practice elsewhere in the country maybe someone else can comment on that.

(post #176293, reply #23 of 30)

HEHE! Sounds like the experience many people have with pools in the area around the ranch. They don't realize that a very high water table under rock will pop an empty pool right out of the ground. Not a pretty sight.

(post #176293, reply #25 of 30)

No cattle in the pool, that's what fences are for. The whole house area and upper barns (about 10 acres) is fenced, pickets on the front side and rails everywhere else. One of the kids left a walk-in gate open one night and the next morning we found several cows drinking out of the pool. Thanks goodness they didn't make it to the flower bed. But they did leave way too may calling cards on the lawn.

(post #176293, reply #18 of 30)

The block I used is manufactured by Grinnel and is a 3 piece retaining wall system. They call it their vintage collection. I used the 3 piece because it created a much more random effect which makes it look more Natural. The other option we went with was, we used the grayflash color which is a combination of grays so that also adds to the natural feel by having random colors throughout the wall and even throughout the individual blocks. I was really pleased with the way it came out.

(post #176293, reply #28 of 30)

I love the hardscape around the pool. Since the installation, have you experienced any settling? When you back filled and set the base for the pavers, did you use any techniques out of the ordinary? I ask because I have heard that it can be difficult to acheive proper compaction around pools.

(post #176293, reply #29 of 30)

Aaron,I think one of the things that really helped out with this project is that it rained for 5 weeks after they backfilled the pool so I had tons of natural compaction. Outside of that all of the techniques where "normal" for paver installation around here.

I do have one spot that frost heaves every spring but all I have to do is lift the 2 paver's in that area, pack down the soil and then lay down the paver's again. I suspect there is a rock underneath that area. I have been extremely happy with the results.